The Foreign Service Journal, September 2020

76 SEPTEMBER 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS AFSA Lauds Supreme Court Decision on Workplace Discrimination AFSA welcomes the Supreme Court’s June 15 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, declaring that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects gay and transgender employees from workplace discrimination. AFSA believes in equal civil rights for all Americans, and this brings us a step closer to that goal. Our diplomatic corps should be representative of the melting pot that is our nation, and that is impossible without the contributions of LGBT+ members of the Foreign Service. Until the June 15 decision, those colleagues had been uniformly protected only by Executive Orders 13087 and 13672. Their workplace pro- tections are now enshrined in law. This is major progress. While our history on this is not perfect, AFSA is proud to be a longtime supporter of LGBT+ rights in the Foreign Service. As an association, we have long-standing ties with glifaa, the largest LGBT+ employee affinity group for the foreign affairs agencies. In 2014, AFSA General Coun- sel Sharon Papp received glifaa’s Equality Award in rec- ognition of her, and AFSA’s, strong allyship. We celebrate this land- mark victory with our LGBT+ members and colleagues. n AFSA Welcomes New Members of the U.S. Foreign Service With the ongoing pandemic necessitating social distanc- ing, AFSA welcomed the newest members of the U.S. Foreign Service virtually in June and July. On June 12, AFSA sent a welcome letter featuring links to videos describing membership benefits to 72 members of the 202nd A-100 class and to 85 members of the 156th specialist class. The first-ever joint generalist- specialist orientation class was onboarded virtually by the State Department. “Normally, we would be hosting you for lunch at our headquarters building, just across the street from Main State, where we can share the work we do and you can have the opportunity to meet and talk to other Foreign Ser- vice members,” AFSA State Vice President Tom Yazdgerdi told the new Foreign Service members by video. “Given these extraordinary circumstances, we are glad to have the opportunity to introduce AFSA virtually. We are so happy to see you on board, and I want you to know how hard AFSA pushed for this virtual onboard- ing,” he continued. On July 8, AFSA also welcomed the 24 members of the C3 USAID class via video. “We often speak of ourselves as not just members of the Foreign Service but as stewards of it—responsible for the strength of the institution,” AFSA President Eric Rubin told the USAID class. “I like to think that each generation of Foreign Service members brings a different set of skills and a new vision to make the Foreign Service stronger. I am certain that your group is no exception. Already you are breaking new ground in being onboarded virtually,” he said. AFSA President Eric Rubin hosted an online meeting about dissent in the For- eign Service (a topic he has often presented to incom- ing classes in the past) with about 20 members of the new FSO class. We look for- ward to offering more online discussion sessions with incoming Foreign Service members. Ordinarily, AFSA invites incoming classes to its headquarters for a welcoming lunch, and plans to resume those lunches when condi- tions allow. n Members of a joint generalist and specialist orientation class were onboarded virtually into the Foreign Service on June 12. STATEDEPARTMENT